For Ganapati duty was more importanat than family: Karnataka DySP's wife

Days after DySP M.K. Ganapati committed suicide, leaving the police top brass and the ruling Congress in disarray, his wife Pavana broke her silence. Coming out against the current dispensation, Pavana told Shweta Singh that the family is being unnecessarily drawn into a controversy to sidestep the investigation and to protect the powerful people who are linked to this case

Pavana Ganapati, widow of late DySP, M K Ganapati, who committed suicide last week, alleging harassment, is keen on an impartial probe into her husband’s death and for those responsible to be punished.

Denying she had any serious differences with him as alleged, she said in an interview with the Deccan Chronicle that the government should not try to drag her and her children into the issue just to cover up for someone else.
Excerpts from the interview.

Your husband has made several allegations in the video. How true are they?
Whatever he said in the interview is all true. My husband was very upset about whatever happened when he was in the Rajagopalanagar and Madivala police stations. He used to complain about it all the time.

It's said your father-in-law gave a statement to the police claiming all was not well between you and your husband.
This is not true.

Then why did your brother-in-law, M. K. Thammaiah, who is also a DySP, say your husband was depressed?
I don’t know what exactly he said. But please understand there will always be ups and downs in a family. I would not like to comment on this much.

Has the focus of the investigation now shifted to the personal discord between you and your husband?
If that was an issue, he should have mentioned it in the television interview before he passed away. But he did not mention anything and as there was no such issue and they cannot make a big deal about it . Every family has problems, but we did not have any serious differences.

We had no realdifferences. Every family has its own problems, but that does not mean people should allege he committed suicide because of them. If I were not nice to him, why would have I stayed with his family for his 11th day ritual?
—Pavana, wife of Ganapati

Do you think the government is blaming the family for the incident to sidetrack the entire issue?
Yes. We had no real differences. Every family has its own problems, but that does not mean people should allege he committed
suicide because of them.

How do you feel about the government blaming the family for your husband’s suicide when you are still in shock over his death?
Exactly. This is hurting me a lot and if they (CID and government) don’t stop this torture, I will have to follow in my husband’s footsteps. If I were not nice to him, why would have I stayed with his family for his 11th day ritual?

Do you think there was any foul play?
I seriously don’t know.

Do you think that the system and the police are trying to manipulate the case by accusing the family ?
We were not separated or had fought so much that we had to call off the marriage. Even when he was travelling to other cities, he used to come over and spend time with us. He was a dutiful person, who always gave importance to his duty over his family. And we accepted that. As he did not want the education of the children to be affected because of his transfers he asked us to remain in Mangaluru. Just because they want to cover up for someone, they should not drag me and my sons into this.

Was your husband happy after getting posted back to Mangaluru?
As I said earlier, he was depressed over problems in his department. He was such an honest and dutiful officer that he could not take his mind off what had happened in the past. He would have never taken such a drastic step had he not been under such stress for over three years

What do you think was the trigger that caused him to end his life?
He was very upset with all that had happened and the torture he went through. He always felt he had gained a black mark although he was devoted to his work.

Did your husband inform you about going to Madikeri?
He did not tell me he was going to Madikeri. He said he was going to Bengaluru for two days for court related work and would call me in the afternoon once he reached there. But I did not receive any call from him and when I called him there was no response.

What were his last words to you?
When I called him at around 2 o’clock again, he picked up the phone and just listened to my voice when I kept saying ‘hello, hello’, and then hung up.

What are your demands to the government?
First, my husband should get justice and the three persons named by him should be punished. It was the harassment and torture that made him take the hasty decision. Let the investigation continue and if the charges made against the three he named are found true, they should be arrested. Also, the government should see how it can help our family. I have two sons and they need to complete their education. Lastly, it should see to it that nothing like this happens to any other officer.

So you firmly believe that harassment led to this incident?
Of course, not only my husband, another DySP too committed suicide just two days before him. What does it suggest? Otherwise, my husband would not have dared to go to a TV channel and make the allegations he did.